Helen Flanders
Helen Flanders is a demon slayer who joins Ariga Sakura on her journey to collect the Crystal Lightning for the Blue Crystal Rod in order to cure the disease known as the Seed. History Helen was born to Jan and Lieke Flanders, and was raised in an upper-class family. Throughout her childhood, Helen spent much of her time with her mother, forming a strong and positive mother-child bond. Although Helen did not see her father often, because he was a military commander, she still had a close relationship with him. Unfortunately, Helen's mother was taken by sickness. On the night of her 16th birthday, Helen was introduced to Xie Yixiang, who was a young warrior under the command of her father. Her birthday celebration, however, was halted with the arrival of Mammon and a group of his subordinate demons. While Jan and several other soldiers fought the demons, he ordered Yixiang to escort Helen away to the “nearest outpost.” Helen initially refused to leave, but was eventually convinced. Helen and Yixiang, took refuge in the military outpost Jan spoke of. There, Yixiang explained that he and Jan were members of the Demon Slayers, who, as the name implies, are warriors who specialize in defending humanity from hostile demons. The following day, Yixiang set off to the Flanders’ manor with several other demon slayers, asking Helen to stay at the outpost until he returned. When Yixiang came back from his journey, he told Helen that Jan and his men did not survive the attack. Helen was devastated by the news. Becoming a Demon Slayer Weeks after Jan’s funeral, Helen requested to join the Demon Slayers and asked Yixiang to teach her how to fight so she could avenge her father and also not need to rely on others to defend herself. Yixiang was initially reluctant, but ultimately agreed to Helen’s requests. During the training, Yixiang taught Helen how to wield a wodao – the closest Chinese equivalent of a European longsword, so that she could honor her father by wielding his blade, which was recovered from the Flanders’ manor; granted, one edge had to be dulled lest Helen injure herself in the way she wields it. After spending several years as a demon slayer, Helen eventually became a formidable warrior, surpassing many of her fellow soldiers in combat. Along with other demon slayers, she killed many demons that terrorized nearby villages. Two years since the death of Jan, hostile demon activity came to a halt. The time Helen and Yixiang spent together allowed them to grow close and fall in love. They married and then had a son named Coen the following year. The Seed When Coen was six years of age, Yixiang's mentor, Chuantong arrived in Europe to warn the Demon Slayers of a disease known as "the Seed," which was spreading quickly. Although the disease had a cure – the Blue Lightning Rod and its three pieces of Crystal Lightning – none of the locations of either items were known. When the Demon Slayers began receiving news of villagers and townspeople becoming ill and insane, Helen and Yixiang feared for the safety of their son. Chuantong told them that he knew of a sanctuary that was completely safe from the disease and offered to take care of Coen. In the mean time, he would search for old text that detailed the whereabouts of the Blue Lightning Rod and its three other components. Helen and Yixiang agreed, and promised their son they would visit him whenever they could. Along with the spread of the Seed, the Demon Slayers were faced with the increasing return of demons. As the Demon Slayers spent days killing demons and restraining victims of the Seed, scouts reported to Helen and Yixiang of the location of which the demons seemed to have come from, which was a set of ruins. After several detailed reports indicating the number of demons (which was fairly small) and mapping out the ruins, Helen and Yixiang decided to launch an attack. The battle subsequently ensued, with neither side having an edge. When it appeared that the Demon Slayers were winning, none other than Mammon himself joined his minions, completely turning the tide of the battle in his favor. Seeing Yixiang and Helen, the jarl immediately went after the Demon Slayer leaders. With the opportunity to avenge Jan, Helen and Yixiang did not back down. Although they held their own for many minutes, it was eventually clear that they were no match; both Helen and Yixiang began to tire, while the demon jarl maintained his full strength. The moment the Demon Slayer leaders could no longer keep up, Mammon ran behind Yixiang and impaled him through the back. On his dying breath, Yixiang begged Helen to leave him and ordered nearby demon slayers to make sure Helen made it out alive. The remaining demon slayers retreated, dragging their surviving leader with them. Mammon told his demons to not pursue, content with his enemy feeling the guilt of leaving her loved one to die. Yixiang's death no doubt took its toll on Helen, but she knew that she had to press on, not only for herself, but also for her son who was waiting for her. After Yixiang's funeral, Helen resumed position as a demon slayer captain. Helen soon received a bird-delivered message from Chuantong, telling her the location of the Blue Lightning Rod and its three pieces of Crystal Lightning, one which could be found in the Silent Forest. Deciding to search for the nearest piece, Helen and six other demon slayers journeyed into the forest. Three days into their search, the Demon Slayers were ambushed by a small group of Mammon's minions. Helen's allies stood no chance, having been completely caught off guard and were subsequently killed. Helen, on the other hand, singlehandedly killed the entire force of her attackers. Helen continued through the forest alone for two days, finding herself traversing a bog. There, she was attacked by five bog serpents, each from a different direction. When she killed one, the other four made their way to unprotected flesh, wounding Helen by slashing her skin with their beaks. Just as Helen killed the second, Barbatos, Morax, and Gobb arrived and helped her kill the remaining bog serpents. When Helen was no longer threatened, Barbatos and his friends began to leave. Surprised that she was saved by demons, Helen called for them to stop in order to thank them for saving her. With her options limited, Helen asked the three demons if they could guide her through forest, to which Barbatos hesitantly agreed. Barbatos then mended Helen’s wounds with a special plant native to the forest. As the four traveled together, Barbatos revealed to Helen that the Silent Forest was home to him and his friends. Since they knew everything there was to know about the forest, they hunted for and gathered all of the food for themselves and their "guest." Barbatos also warned Helen of the potential dangers of the forest so she would not accidentally harm or even kill herself over an unforeseen accident. It took ten days for Barbatos and his friends to bring Helen to the Crystal Lightning. Meeting Sakura The following day, while Barbatos and his friends continued to guide Helen out of the forest, Sakura, Syaoran, and Fumiko caught up to them from behind. Sakura asked Helen to hand over the Crystal Lightning as Helen noticed her wielding the incomplete Blue Lightning Rod. Seeing that they both needed what the other had, they agreed to travel together to complete the Blue Lightning Rod. Physical Description Helen is a tall, slightly muscular young woman with green eyes and strawberry blond hair, which she often keeps in a bun. Upon her introduction, Helen is seen wearing a torn brown hooded cloak, brown leather boots, and the Arms of Zeruel, which consist of a right manica and narrow shield; she is nude beneath the cloak, due to the fact that her inner clothes, which originally consisted of a brown leather tunic and leather pants, were completely ripped from her body when she was ambushed by Demons sent by Mammon. Shortly after meeting Sakura, Syaoran, and Fumiko, however, Fumiko gave Helen her white kimono top and red hakama. Prior to traveling to the Silent Forest, Helen wore lightweight steel plate armor with steel tassets, and the same pair of leather boots, and leather pants. Personality Helen is a very friendly individual to anyone she does not consider an enemy and often tries to make friends out of strangers. That said, she is not so naïve as to be easily tricked by those with malicious intent. Helen has also been shown to be emotionally strong, having forced herself to recover quickly from bearing the emotional pain of losing someone dear to her: her father, and then her husband. Abilities and Skills After being trained by Yixiang and having years of experience slaying demons, Helen is a very skilled warrior. Like all demon slayers, Helen possesses superhuman reflexes whenever wielding a weapon blessed with Angelic power. In addition to being granted enhanced speed, Helen also possesses a degree of unnatural strength, in courtesy of wearing the Arms of Zeruel. Throughout her career, Helen has shown to singlehandedly fight off more than one demon at once; it usually takes more demon slayers to fight each demon. Category:Females Category:Humans Category:Characters Category:Devilkin Ascent Category:Hyper Zergling